Renzo Arbore
Il Pap'occhio

THE REVIEW

Seen a few days ago after the media hype about the celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the film "Il Pap'occhio" (from 1980 but restored and edited on DVD a few months ago), this overrated little movie really disappointed me like few others. Produced by Mario Orfini, this half-baked nonsense of a film (which marked the directorial debut of Renzo Arbore) brings together a cast of characters still famous today, including Roberto Benigni, Isabella Rossellini, Diego Abatantuono, and even Martin Scorsese (!!) in an unnecessary cameo, plus other now-extinct personalities (especially Marenco) directly ferried from the program "L'Altra Domenica" of 1979.

A rather naive film, with a few amusing moments here and there, filled with more or less learned citations (The Divine Comedy, the Bible, The Three Musketeers, I Promessi Sposi...), but unsatisfying and crude from a cinematic, photographic, and directorial perspective. The caricature of the late John Paul II (a truly resembling Manfred Freyberger) is amusing, but apart from a few scenes (Benigni leaning out of the pope's window, De Crescenzo as God arriving with a Fiat Panda, and the caricature of Leonardo's The Last Supper), the film eventually bores and doesn't excite.
It is the apotheosis of Arbore's all-encompassing superficiality.

In short, a somewhat amusing little piece, but nothing more.
Like 90% of the Italian comedies produced in the last 30 years...